Flickering Lights

I live in a mobile home that was built in 1972 and after living here for a month all the sudden the lights started flickering and there was 2 quick power outages. Now I'm going around turning everything on and all is fine. Apparently all the people who lived here before me had nothing but a TV where as I have a TV, 2 AC's, computer, a portable washer, and a portable dryer. It did start to happen the day I used the washer and dryer for a good part of the day. This lasted for almost 2 days. Is there such a thing as an electrical system being over-worked somehow. No fuses ever blew at all so it was odd that every light was flickering and it was perfect outside. The maintenance guy here said nothing was wrong as far as he could tell. It's just odd that it stopped just as sudden as it started. Now I'm going to look like an idiot when the electrician is sent out.

Oh wait it's started up again for no reason I can fathom.

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Flickering Lights

Im no expert in mobile homes....but I do know one thing about the wiring in 1972...its aluminum! Now you can't be sure but seems like if things are going off, and lights are flickering its from burning connections...you need to unplug ALOT of things...necessarys can be left on. Shut the power off to an outlet, test for power...and pull it out....what color are the wires? If your not confortable around wires then call an electrician to check.

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Flickering Lights

I don't really want to mess around with any wiring. The extent of my electrical work is to replace a fuse which I had to do once here when I made the mistake of pluging 2 AC's into the same circuit. I knew at that point this wasn't going to be like any house or apartment I lived in and I was careful about dividing up my stuff so as not to blow another fuse.

The maintenance guy said he was going to have an electrician come out but naturally when he was here everything was perfect so he probably thought I was mental as I went around turning things on and off to get the lights to flicker. I assume an electrician has some way to tell something is wrong even if the lights don't flicker when he's here?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgsgww

Im no expert in mobile homes....but I do know one thing about the wiring in 1972...its aluminum! Now you can't be sure but seems like if things are going off, and lights are flickering its from burning connections...you need to unplug ALOT of things...necessarys can be left on. Shut the power off to an outlet, test for power...and pull it out....what color are the wires? If your not confortable around wires then call an electrician to check.

Flickering Lights

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flickering_Lights

I assume an electrician has some way to tell something is wrong even if the lights don't flicker when he's here?

Defiantly, just tell him what your experiencing and he should go and check connections,its probably before the main breaker or fuse, since you said the lights did this after the dryer, washer, and ac were used.

You said fuses, and this place was made in 1972? Do you mean breakers? If there is fuses, that seems odd to me...

Flickering Lights

When the electricity went out in some areas I went to the electrical box and saw it used fuses which I only seen in photos as I'm used to the thing where the switch turns orange and you just flip it back. One of the fuses was burning hot so I replaced it with a box of them that was sitting on top. They're 15 amp and then there's 20 amp for the kitchen appliances. Now that I'm looking closer there's some metal handle on a black part that says "main" and "pull to renew fuses. Could there be an issue with the fuses in there?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgsgww

Defiantly, just tell him what your experiencing and he should go and check connections,its probably before the main breaker or fuse, since you said the lights did this after the dryer, washer, and ac were used.

You said fuses, and this place was made in 1972? Do you mean breakers? If there is fuses, that seems odd to me...

Flickering Lights

No fuses ever blew at all so it was odd that every light was flickering and it was perfect outside

Not odd at all.

The circuit starts at the panel and runs from outlet to outlet to switches to the lights. It's all tied together and if it comes loose anywhere along that circuit, things start to flicker.

Note: It's much easier to fix if it's broken when the electrician gets there.

Another note: Trailer recepticals are difficult to troublshoot because they are clamped on to the cable and there is no easy way to test power in and out.....at least in the trailers I have had to repair. I don't do trailers any more.

Flickering Lights

Trailer issues I've encountered involving flickering lights or outlets out usually ends up being loose neutrals. Many times because of back-stabbing receptacles, sometimes loose connections in the panel.

Flickering Lights

Flickering Lights

I just moved in and the rent is only $400 a month and the place was just remodeled! The power totally went out today and the landlord came over and reset the breaker and got it back on. Then the electrician came and said something about a burnt plug in the breaker I think. He did something and then said he'd be back Monday to replace it. He said things should be fine until then. This wouldn't have been a issue if all the previous tenants weren't living in the stone age. Apparently the original old lady who owned the place never even had a TV! I even had to get cable installed because no previous tenant had it when the TV reception here is horrible. We got cable back in the 80's when I was a kid. The place gets hot in the sun and I can't believe no one ever had an air conditioner either. I obviously pushed the electrical system to the limit with all my entertainment, cooling, laundry, and computing equipment. I'm glad it wasn't my worst fear. That it was something where all the wiring had to be replaced. Then I would move.